User:Belanelson/Pastoral Neolithic

The Pastoral Neolithic ( approximately 5000 BP - 1200 BP) refers to a period in Africa's prehistory, specifically Tanzania and Kenya, marking the beginning of food production on the continent following the Later Stone Age. The exact dates of this time period remain inexact, but early Pastoral Neolithic site suggest the beginning of herding by 5000 BP. In contrast to the Neolithic in other parts of the world, which saw the development of farming societies, the first form of African food production was mobile pastoralism, or ways of life centered on the herding and management of livestock. The shift from hunting to food production relied on livestock that had been domesticated outside of East Africa, especially North Africa. This period marks the emergence of the forms of pastoralism that are still present. This reliance on livestock herding marks the deviation from hunting/gathering, but precedes major agricultural development. The exact movement tendencies of Neolithic Pastoralists is not completely understood.

The term "Pastoral Neolithic" is used most often by archaeologists to describe early pastoralist periods in the Sahara, as well as in eastern Africa ( this time period is sometimes called the East African Neolithic). In the Sahara, hunter/gatherers first adopted livestock (cattle, sheep, and goats) in the eighth to seventh millennia BP. As the grasslands of the Sahara began drying out in the mid-Holocene, herders then spread into the Nile Valley and eastern Africa.

During the Pastoral Neolithic in eastern Africa (5000-1200 BP), archaeologists have identified two pastoralist groups who spread through southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania ; they co-existed alongside Eburran phase 5 hunter/gatherers; these groups are known as the Savanna Pastoral Neolithic and the Elmenteitan. The Pastoral Neolithic in eastern Africa was followed by the Pastoral Iron Age approximately two thousand years ago, during which agriculture, iron technology, and Bantu languages spread into the region.

Origins
The beginning of the Pastoral Neolithic follows the Late Stone Age around 5000 BP.

The earliest instances of food production in East Africa are found in Kenya and Tanzania. The earliest Pastoral Neolithic site are in the Lake Turkana region from approx. 5000 BP. Predating the introduction of imported livestock, African pastoralists kept domestic livestock and but did not keep the lifestyles characteristic of modern pastoralists. These preliminary herding cultures are characteristic to the Pastoral Neolithic time period. These early Pastoralists characteristically lack stationary Agriculture practices and metal use. The exact introductory timeline of pastoralism to Eastern Africa is not completely known.

The faunal record suggests that the livestock of Neolithic Pastoralists where not domesticated in East Africa, but immigrants of exterior domesticated populations. The fossils of common domesticates are not found in excavated sites in East Africa (Lake Turkana basin, Lake Nakuru basin, Serengeti Plains, Lake Eyasi, etc), suggesting they were not presents during the transition into the Pastoral Neolithic. These domesticated animals can be estimated to have arrived in Northern Africa around 8000 BP and to have reached Eastern Africa by 5000 BP.

Migratory Patterns
The exact way in which Pastoralism reached East Africa during the Pastoral Neolithic is not completely understood. The pottery and stone tools found near Lake Turkana suggest that migrants from Ethiopia/Sudan travelled south in small bursts, introducing pastoralism.

Much evidence points to the two major expansions of Eastern Africa which transformed the food systems of the region, with the associated group speaking Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharn languages respectively.

Using DNA extracted from skeletal remains at Later Stone Age, Pastoral Neolithic, and Kenyan/Tanzanian sites, concludes that current Afro-Asiatic speakers are tied ancestrally to individuals who lived in the Pastoral Neolithic. Afro - Asiatic languages are spoken today by individuals like in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Horn of Africa.

Cultural Characteristics
Individuals of the Pastoral Neolithic employed both fishing and herding practices. They also had characteristic associations with stone tools, ceramics and burial traditions.

Stone Tool Use
Archeological reports of stone use can give to technological development and use during this period, as compared to stone use associated with agriculture.

The abundant archeological study of "Stone Bowl Cultures" by Louis and Mary Leakey in the 20th uncovered massive evidence about food systems in the Pastoral Neolithic.

The archeological site at Luxmanda, Tanzania is estimated to have been occupied initially around 3000 BP, establishing it as Africa's most southern Pastoral Neolithic site to date. The size of stone tools found at Luxmanda establish that Pastoral Neolithic establishments may not have been mobile. Stones associated with grinding suggest high plant food processing, in addition to other stones being use for bone marrow pounding and grease extractions. These stone tools found at Luxmanda, Tanzania challenge reestablished ideas about travel patterns and food systems during the pastoral Neolithic.

Burial Traditions
Excavations of cemeteries and burial sites of Pastoral Neolithic communities can give insights on the traditions and social structure associated with the PN.

The Lothagam North Pillar Site is a communal cemetery in the Lake Turkana region where the earliest PN sites are found. The Lothagam North Pillar Site consisted of a large cavity constructed with large rocks, estimated to hold at least 580 individuals. The demographics of those buried are diverse in age, sex, and predicted social class. This site is consistent with the narrative of communities in movement throughout the PN.

The End of the Pastoral Neolithic
The introduction of metallurgy makes the end of the Pastoral Neolithic time period around 1200BP. The Iron using pastoralists of the Early Iron Age, consist of both Pastoral descendants and immigrants from Northern Africa and elsewhere. The Pastoral Neolithic is followed by the transition in to the Pastoral Iron Age and Iron Age.